If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. If you are registered and logged in, you won't see any ads in the forums -- they'll magically disappear!

Lynford Hall is a neo-Jacobean country house at Mundford, near Thetford in the English county of Norfolk. It is now an hotel.

The house was built in 1857-1862 by William Burn for Stephens Lyne-Stephens, said at the time to be the richest commoner in England. He was married to the French ballerina Yolande (Pauline) Duvernay. Stephens died before the building was completed, but Yolande retained the house and estate until her death in 1894.

Under later owners, regular guests included Joe Kennedy, then the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom. He was often accompanied on his visits by his sons Joe Jr., John and Robert. Ernest Hemingway is said to have propped up Lynford's Royal Wellingtonia bar with Sir James Calder, in the 1930s. Calder was the United Kingdom ambassador to the United States at the time.

Hemingway described shooting on the estate as "like sucking the core out of a fig." It is noteworthy that Hemingway's gradual decline into madness began soon after he left Norfolk for the last time.

Lynford was gutted by fire in the 1920s destroying the East wing of the building, (which has yet to be replaced). There are still many signs of the fire, the most obvious being that the 3rd floor window surrounds now stand proud of the roof. The government used the Hall as a Hospital during WW2. Some carved names can still be found in trees on the grounds from this period. The forestry commission bought the Hall and used it as a training school until the 1960s. By this time the house was poorly maintained and overgrown. They sold the house and kept the land which now makes up a large part of Thetford Forest.

It was bought by G F Rand who converted the house into a private home cum Motel, with function facilities. He also created a mobile home park to the East of the house with some 30 plots. During his ownership the BBC filmed several programmes including Dad's Army, 'Allo 'Allo!, and You Rang, M'Lord?. After 25 years Rand sold the property on complete with businesses, in the late 1990s.

Lynford has been an hotel for some years now and has been described by A.C. Grayling as "the Cliveden of the East".